Ayurveda Initiative For Global Health

There’s nothing like a nice cup of tea in winter to relax and wind you down. So go ahead - curl up with your favourite book or invite your friends for a nice chit-chat. Experiment with your cuppa. Add a dash of cinnamon or ginger or lemongrass or lemon and honey - or try a mix and match. Herbal teas will warm you up and also help with digestion.  🌺 Sri Sri Tattva Panchakarma  Bringing balance to your life

Elemental Care Clinic, Naupada, Thane is organizing a free camp for bp checkup and stress management with Ayurvedic doctor and Clinical psychologist at their clinic premises in Naupada, Thane. Please find details in the image above.

Chokkanathaswamy temple, Domlur, Bengaluru Did you know that the Chokkanathaswamy temple in Domlur, Bengaluru city is dedicated to Lord Vishnu as Chokkanatha Swamy and is known to possess specific spots with 'pranic energy' meaning "cosmic energy" where meditation could result in energy vibrations? The Chokkanathaswamy temple in Bengaluru city in the suburb of Domlur which is also called Tombalur or Desimanikkapattanam in 12th century inscriptions, is dedicated to Lord Vishnu in the form of Chokkanatha Swamy or Choka Perumal in Tamil, an archa Vigraha (idol) made of Saligrama shila (fossil stone extracted from the Gandaki River in Nepal), along with vigrahas of His consorts Sridevi and Bhudevi deifieid in the garba griha (sanctum sanctorum).  The Chokkanathaswamy temple (Chokkanatha meaning beautiful in Telugu) is considered as one of the oldest temples in Bengaluru with several inscriptions in Kannada and Tamil, on...

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷                Chapter 3               The grace of the divine       🌻 Day 22 🌻  अन्यत्र धर्मादन्यत्राधर्मा– त्रास्मात्कृताकृतात् । अन्यत्र भूताच्च भव्याच्च  यत्तत्पश्यषि तद्वद ॥ What nachiketa said next is very beautiful. A student usually says, “Teach me what is right.” But Nachiketa said, “Teach me of That you see beyond right and wrong.” He has transcended the limited logic of the mind. There is beautiful quote in Sanskrit, दुर्जनम प्रथमम् वन्दे, सज्जनम् तदन्तरम् I bow down to the wicked, for he is teaching me the lesson at his own cost. The one who is teaching me the lesson by falling into the pit needs to be appreciated first. Then, I thank the wise, who guides me to the right path. How beautiful is this! Doesn’t make your emotion light and uplifted? You are left with no other emotion than gratefulness and thankfulness. Nothing else it left....

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷               Chapter 3                The grace of the divine      🌻 Day 21 🌻 Body has the limitations, so does the mind. Good thoughts come, bad thoughts come, and emotions come, so what? You are happy sometimes, you are upset sometimes. Sometimes they are not your emotions, they are somebody else’s emotions, which get on to your body and mind. How many have experienced this? This is body-mind complex, these things happen. “I want to get rid of it, I want to be pure.” This is another problem. For a moment those vibrations come to you, so what? Be brave, this is where you need courage. Those emotions come and go, you watch them. Sometimes you react, “O! I reacted, I did this, and I did that.” Never mind that you reacted, it is finished. Don’t be hard on yourself. Remember one thing – the present moment, come to the moment! Jealousy comes inside you and you think, “I am a se...

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷              Chapter 3              The grace of the divine      🌻 Day 20 🌻 Lord Yama said, “The wise realise the timeless Self through meditation. It is beyond all perception, hidden in the cave of heart, leaving pain and pleasure far behind.” The Self which is hidden in the cave of heart, knowing that one goes beyond pleasure or pain. Just remember, pain means going away from the Self. Peace is getting in touch with the Self. The whole creation is made up of one substance. your friend and your enemy, both are made up of same substance.is it shocking? You are made up of same substance which your enemies are made up of, which our friends are made up of. There is no two. It is all made up one substance, come on relax! There is no other than you on this planet, or anywhere else. Now to say this, Yama had to first say, “See beyond logic.” Because our own intellect, our own logic, ...

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷               Chapter 3             The grace of the divine      🌻 Day 19 🌻 You don’t know how the mind escapes and finds a way out. It reason’s out everything. So, even when an instructions is given about the nature of the self, the mind is clouded with aversions, cravings, disappointments, angers – any of these emotions, and the instruction doesn’t get registered. It doesn’t filter down. It doesn’t ring a bell. The right situation for this is the mind being hollow and empty.  The Lord of Death says, “May we have more seekers like you.” It’s not just a student who is blessed to have a great teacher. A teacher also feels happy and blessed to have a student who sees beyond logic and scholarship. When you think your logic is very strong, you don’t see light on other side. “I am right. I am so good.” Then you make others the culprit, the world as culprit. A teenage girl ...

🌷 Katho Upanishad 🌷               Chapter 3        The grace of the divine       🌻 Day 18 🌻 Vismayo Yog Bhumika Wonderment is the preface of yoga. It is the first step for unity with divinity. You can go and look at the Grand Canyon and say, “Wow! My God, this is super” because that’s all you can do there. You cannot bring it home, it’s impossible. Everything that is magnanimous in this world is beyond your ability to capture. But the ego wants to capture things. It even wants to possess and capture the Guru. “Guruji, you do what I say” Instead of, “I will do what you say.” To be a Guru is not an easy job. Once in Lord Rama’s kingdom somebody threw a stone at a dog. Rama’s kingdom was considered to be very non-violent and there was truth and justice for all. In that kingdom a dog was walking on the street and somebody threw a stone at the dog and chased it out. The dog went to ask for justice – an...

I would like to share one of my experiences with Guruji. On the 13th of May, 2011, Guruji was in the Bangalore Ashram for his birthday celebrations. We all knew in advance that he was to celebrate this grand day in the Ashram that year. Like every other devotee, it was my wish also to be a part of the celebrations and get the opportunity of meeting him that day.   So I had planned to go to Bangalore on the 12th in order to attend the birthday and get Gurujis Darshan .But a few days later, closer to the date, I realised that I would not be able to make it and would have to stay back in Bombay due to certain personal reasons. So basically I had to cancel my entire plan of meeting Guruji on his birthday because of which I was extremely upset as I really wanted to be there. Guruji was supposed to meet each and every devotee one to one on his birthday and I was not going to be there. But little did I know that he was not going to let me remain upset for long as on the night of His bi...

Question - Gurudev, why does it become increasingly difficult to handle the family? I can handle and influence everyone but the ones I love. What is lacking? Gurudev Sri Sri - You have to do it indirectly. You have tell someone who is close to your family and influence the family through them. Perhaps they know you too well. If you are so centered, and if you live the knowledge a 100%, then you will see that you don't have to try to influence them, they will get influenced by themselves. You being well-founded in knowledge is indicated when the people closest to you have the highest respect for you, because they know you. They see how you handle every situation, and how you keep your calm in every situation. So if your close ones appreciate you, that means you have really blossomed. That means you have only a little bit more to go. You can influence others but people around you if you are well established in knowledge. It happens.

TINA WELLINGTON, a senior executive in the hospitality industry says, "My Guru is beyond Space and Time". Read how a devout Zoroastrian experienced the Master’s grace.  A Zoroastrian by faith, worshiper of fire, no idol worship and certainly no worship of a living entity were my formative years. Respect all and live life as per our 3 tenets. Good Thoughts, Good Words and Good Deeds were values inculcated by my mother. How could one then believe in a ‘living’ being in a white attire and long flowing hair as your spiritual Master!  As they say, the Master ‘finds you’ and it’s not you that finds a Master. Well, Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ‘chose’ my beautiful daughter Sanaya and me during an interaction at an event in Mumbai. Some years later In 2013, Sanaya and I travelled to Bali with Gurudev. One day, as we were sitting on the beautiful Bali beach, HE looks at Sanaya and says “Abhi uski shaadi kara do. (Get your daughter married now.) I told him, ‘’Gurudev I...

Question - Gurudev, many people get scared to see us youngsters take on the spiritual path. How to convince them that this is a blessed path for every soul, and in fact a privilege? Gurudev Sri Sri - Don't try to convince them. Just be yourself and they'll get convinced. It will happen automatically. You trying to convince them will make it worse. It should just show up in your behaviour, your love and compassion.

Question - Gurudev, during meditation, what is the benefit of keeping our eyes open by just 5-10%? In many statues and idols of Lord Buddha, He is often depicted with His eyes half-closed. Please tell us something about this. Gurudev Sri Sri - When we close our eyes, we drift into the world of our mind, our thoughts and emotions - which is called the Manoraiya (literally meaning the kingdom of the mind). When our eyes are open, we are engaged in the outside world. So when you close your eyes only partially, then the mind neither gets stuck in the inner world of thoughts and emotions, nor does it get entangled in the outside world. Then the mind slowly settles down and comes to a state of rest. This is a very beneficial technique for those who close their eyes and drift off into the world of dreams. It is like a siddhaushadhi (a perfect medicine).

Question - Gurudev, the soul is eternal, pure and ancient, then how did it become deluded, that it does not know itself in its true nature? Gurudev Sri Sri - This is called Atiprashna, i.e., the question which does not really concern you, and it is too much to ask for. So why did the first ignorance happen, these questions were never answered. In the scriptures also, it is said that this is Atiprashna. What are you going to do knowing that? Even if someone will say, 'Okay, this happened two billion years ago', what is the use? What are you going to achieve, or solve by it? There are many other things to know. First know who you are, and then you can say, how the first ignorance came.